Only Exception
by rubyriot
Summary: There is always that one person who comes along and shatters everything you thought you knew about yourself. Continuation after the final episode. How can you possibly end a series like that? Seriously! Rating is just in case for future chapters.
1. You Are

Disclaimer: I do not own 10 Things, nor do I own the song by Paramore that inspired the title. If I did own 10 Things, there would be at least one more season to wrap up the madness!

Chapter One: You Are

Patrick Verona was not a romantic guy. He didn't believe in relationships and he certainly didn't believe in love. So why was he here in the school parking lot, on a Saturday, washing the mountain of crap off his girlfriend's car? A girlfriend he would probably never see again, mind you. She was probably on her way to a convent by now. Damn her psycho father for breaking the lock on his daughter's bedroom door and then deciding to come home early and interrupt the best night of his life. He had never had to deal with this before. He wasn't the type of guy that girls brought home. But Kat Stratford was not a typical girl. He had told her he wouldn't break her heart; and he meant it. That scared him and nothing scared Patrick Verona. Well, Walter had scared Patrick a little the night before, but only because he valued his "man-parts" as Kat's dad called them. Kat had been quick to defend him, though, making him sound like the kind of guy that might someday actually deserve someone like her. Not that she was perfect by any means. He didn't put her on a pedestal, he just knew he valued her more than he valued anything in his life; even more than his bike, and that was saying something. Still, this wasn't like him, he thought, as he drove to her house and found himself knocking bravely on the front door. When Kat answered the door, he was relieved and she was momentarily shocked.

"What are you doing here? If my dad catches you here, he'll kill you!" she said when she finally found her voice.

"I thought you might need these" he intoned, holding up her key ring by one finger in front of her face.

"Thanks… I was looking for those. Too bad I have to surrender them to my dad when he gets home" she complained, taking the proffered keys.

"Yeah, I figured that would be the case. How long is your sentence?"

"Indefinite. I can't leave the house except for school and he's making me ride the bus there and back so I can't make any detours. Of course my car is probably ruined beyond repair after sitting in the sun all day today, covered in sewage."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that" Patrick smirked, stepping slightly to the side to reveal his handiwork.

"You washed my car?" Kat asked incredulously.

"Somebody had to do it. Originally you were supposed to help me, but since I thought you'd be a nun by now I went ahead and did it myself" Patrick explained nonchalantly.

"You planned to help me wash it all along? When did you manage to pilfer my keys?"

"Sometime before you threw my pants across the room."

"I did not throw them" Kat defended herself.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"I'll choose to take the high road and ignore that. I have one more question, though. How are you getting home if you drove my car here?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Keith's parked down the block. He owes me."

"I can't believe you did this. It must have taken hours" Kat said softly after staring silently at her shining car for several seconds.

"It's no big deal. I already had your keys."

"Patrick, I…" Kat hesitated, "thank you. This really means a lot to me."

"You're welcome" Patrick said, pulling her into a hug.

Kat was about the invite him inside when the sound of a passing car made them both jump and brought them back to reality.

"Well, I would stay for a proper thank you, but I really would like to keep all of my body parts intact, so I should probably get going before your dad gets back."

"I wish you could stay."

"You have no idea. I have a good idea of what you can do to make up for the fact that you weren't there to help me today" Patrick said suggestively.

"Oh, I'll make it up to you once my leash gets a little longer" Kat promised before crashing her lips onto his and pulling his body against hers once more.

"I'll be waiting" Patrick whispered breathlessly in her ear when they finally broke apart.

Patrick Verona was not a patient guy. But again, he meant what he said. Maybe the world didn't know Patrick Verona very well after all.


	2. The Only Exception

Disclaimer: I do not own 10 Things, nor do I own the song by Paramore that inspired the title. If I did own 10 Things, there would be at least one more season to wrap up the madness!

Chapter Two: The Only Exception

Kat Stratford was rational and responsible. She did not act like a hormonally-charged, mindless teenager with no care for the future. So why was she sneaking out of her house at 11:45 on a school night? The note she had shoved in Patrick's back pocket before leaving school had been impulsive. the careful planning since she returned home had not been. 'Meet me at the beach at midnight' the note had said. She didn't know what she had been thinking. At 12:05, Kat considered going back home. Maybe Patrick's plan to sneak out hadn't gone so well this time. Or maybe he didn't want to meet her. Why was Kat Stratford always waiting for Patrick Verona? The rumble of a motorcycle made her heart skip a beat. Patrick greeted her with a kiss and all thoughts disappeared. Oh yeah, that's why. Several minutes later, she found herself breathless and grinning like a mute idiot.

"So, did you bring me out here to study by the moonlight?" Patrick questioned with a smirk, gesturing toward her backpack.

"I guess we could call it that" she replied with a seductive grin as she pulled out a king size blanket and laid it out across the sand, "This should keep us sand-free. Care to join me?"

"Where did you get this and how long did it take you to get it in that bag?" Patrick laughed, taking care not to get sand on the blanket as he sat.

"Well, my dad downsized when we moved here, but he couldn't stand to get rid of my mom's favorite blanket" Kat explained.

"You stole your mom's favorite blanket?" Patrick asked with surprise.

"No, I stole _my_ favorite blanket. My dad couldn't remember which one was actually my mom's favorite, so he just kept all of them."

"Yeah, that sounds like something he would do. Has he made you talk about _the night _again yet? I'm surprised he hasn't told the school guidance counselors and made us go in for counseling."

"Well, Ms. Tharp knows, but that's only because he's dating her. I'm pretty sure that's why she hasn't talked to us about it. She wouldn't be able to be objective about it. Or lie to my father about it. He actually won't really talk to me at all. He just sighs and shakes his head when he looks at me. Bianca said she tried talking to him, but I don't think it went over well."

"Did Bianca work things out with her guy?"

"More or less I think. Once they played the next episode of his show and she saw how he pulled away and yelled at the girl for kissing him, she kind of melted. Now she wants to bitch slap the girl and gets mad that he still has to be civil toward her."

"Too much drama for me."

"Me too. Now, do you have any more questions? Because I have to sneak back in before sunrise and I'd rather not spend all of our time alone talking about blankets and my crazy family" she teased.

That last comment got the desired results. Patrick practically pounced on her and all pretense of talk vanished. They were basking in each other's afterglow when Kat's cell phone alarm went off. She simultaneously thanked herself and cursed herself for setting that alarm. She knew she needed to get home because she couldn't afford more trouble, but she was so comfortable in Patrick's arms. It had been too long since she had been alone with him and her dad still wouldn't let up with his punishments. With a sigh, she finally got up, and made him get up too, so she could carefully fold up the blanket small enough to fit in her backpack. Patrick watched her in silence, mesmerized by her quick but deliberate movements.

"Kat, I…" Patrick began, breaking the quiet, "I can't believe you did this. I'm glad you did, we should do it more often. I like it when you're rebellious. It's hot."

"Yeah, hot now. Not so much once I get to school. I'm going to look like a zombie after being up so late. And not a cute zombie either. It was worth it though, huh?"

"Definitely. Now I guess we better get going so you can get a little sleep tonight. We don't want you scaring all the idiots at our school into carrying garlic around with them" Patrick teased.

"That would be vampires, not zombies. Nice try" Kat corrected.

Patrick shook his head and kissed her again before handing her his helmet. He made sure to drop her off far enough away from her house that his bike wouldn't wake Walter up. After successfully sneaking back in, Kat put on her pajamas and climbed in bed. But she didn't sleep. Instead, she lay awake, staring at her ceiling and thinking about the events of the night. Kat Stratford was in way over her head but was loving every minute of it.


	3. And I'm on My Way

A/N: So sorry about the wait. Terrible writer's block, but hopefully this chapter is worth it.

Disclaimer: I do not own 10 Things, nor do I own the song by Paramore that inspired the title. If I did own 10 Things, there would be at least one more season to wrap up the madness!

Chapter Three: And I'm on My Way

Walter Stratford was a loving but strict father. He made so many rules to protect his daughters from getting hurt. So why was his daughter walking around most days like someone had just run over her dog? And why was he the cause of such pain? In fact, the only days that Kat looked happy anymore were the days after she had snuck out to see her man-boy. Yes, Walter had figured that part out. He was coming to realize that there was nothing he could do to stop his daughter's transformation into a woman. A thought that made him physically ill, but truth none the less. He was just going to have to suck it up and ignore the urge to rip the smart-ass limb from limb and let them start seeing each other in the open again. Not that he was going to let the boy move in or anything, nor would he condone their behavior, but if he wanted his vibrant, brilliant daughter back he would do whatever he had to do. Even if he hated the hoodlum who corrupted his little cactus. Although, to be fair, there was actually someone else who deserved that hate; he just didn't know who that person was yet and Kat wasn't being particularly talkative lately. He remembered all too clearly the conversation from that fateful night.

_"How long has this been going on Kat?" Walter demanded once everyone was fully clothed and the two teenagers were seated at the kitchen table._

_"This was the first time" Kat responded quietly, eyes glued to her hands folded in her lap._

_"Maybe for you" Walter spat angrily, glaring at the young man sitting across from his daughter._

_"I didn't mean it like that," Kat said looking into her father's eyes, "This wasn't the 'first time' for either of us."_

_"It wasn't?" he asked incredulously, surprised by both the revelation and the glint of defiance in her eyes._

_"It was before we moved here" Kat explained to Patrick in a small voice, infuriating Walter even more that she didn't seem to think her own father deserved the explanation._

In an effort to not be distracted by this new information or the way Man-boy genuinely seemed to be concerned for Kat's well-being, Walter had promptly kicked him out and sent Kat to her room. He had banned her from ever seeing him again, even though he knew they went to school together and she was dangerously close to being an adult. Later that night he had gone to check on her, only to find that she was in Bianca's room. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop on their conversation. Well, okay, to be honest he really was trying to eavesdrop, but only because he thought they might talk about Kat's situation. But instead, Bianca was the one crying about the model boy and Kat was giving her what sounded like excellent sisterly advice. He even overheard the joyous news that Bianca was still a virgin and somehow that had a lot to do with advice from Kat as well. It still wasn't enough to make Walter change his mind, though. Realizing that Kat was sneaking out at night was. A few months after 'the incident', he decided to confront her about what was going on.

"Kat, I know you've been sneaking out to see Patrick" Walter had to force himself to say the man-boy's name so she would take him seriously.

"Dad, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to stop seeing Patrick no matter what you say."

"I know, which is why I am giving you permission date again. But I have one condition that I would like you to abide by" he said cautiously.

"And what would that condition be?" Kat asked slowly.

"I want you to stop sneaking around and I want you to bring him over here so we can all talk again. Civilly this time, I promise."

"That's two conditions, Dad, but I think I can agree to both" Kat said, giving her father a hug before running upstairs to her room.

Walter couldn't help but "accidentally" overhear Kat's side of the conversation as she immediately called Patrick after flopping on her bed. I mean, he had removed her door, so it wasn't his fault her voice carried out into the hallway outside her room. There was a completely legitimate reason he was rearranging the linen closet at that exact moment…

"You have to come over" Kat said excitedly.

Pause.

"No, he's here. It was actually his idea for you to come over. He wants to talk to us about lifting the moratorium on being able to see each other."Pause. Giggle.

"It is not a trap. Besides, if he tries to kill you, I'll jump in front of the bullet."

Pause.

"We just can't sneak out anymore, that's all."

Pause.

"I think he just figured it out. My dad's a smart guy. It runs in the family; yet another reason I think Bianca is a milk-man baby."

Long pause.

"Just get over here."

Click.

"He'll be here in twenty, Dad" Kat said without raising her voice.

Walter smiled to himself and quietly walked down the hall to his own room. It was a tough decision, but he knew it was the right one. He knew eventually she would confide in him about her past decisions and why she had hid them from him, and he was willing to wait.


	4. To Believing

A/N: I'm a horrible person for not updating in over a year. I couldn't decide what direction I wanted to take this. I had a chapter all planned out, but then I read something very similar and decided to start over from the drawing board. It's totally different from what I thought the chapter would be, but it just might have set up a fifth chapter (that I had never planned on writing) pretty nicely…

Disclaimer: I do not own 10 Things, nor do I own the song by Paramore that inspired the title. If I did own 10 Things, there would be at least one more season to wrap up the madness!

Chapter Four: To Believing

Bianca Stratford would never admit it, but she wished she could be more like her big sister. Kat was strong-willed and brave; she did her own thing and didn't care what other people thought. Bianca did care. She wanted to be accepted by the "in-crowd". But she envied the freedom her sister seemed to enjoy by doing her own thing.

Well, she was free most of the time. Bianca did not envy the grounding of all groundings that had occurred after getting caught by their father in a compromising position. She had learned a lot of lessons from her sister over the years, but that had been a big one. If you're going to get down and dirty, don't do it at home!

It was something she was considering more and more lately. Joey was finally home and their relationship was getting better every day. Still, she couldn't help but remember what her sister had gone through after moving here. She could only imagine how much worse a break-up would hurt if she decided to take that step. Of course, Kat had moved on, learned to trust again, and was happier than ever.

A knock at her door interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey Bianca, Patrick and I are going for ice cream; you wanna come?" Kat offered.

"Sure, why not. You're buying right?"

"Patrick is. He just doesn't know it yet" her sister revealed with a devilish grin.

Bianca laughed and followed her sister out of the room. She sent Joey a quick text to see if he wanted to meet them. Never in a million years would she have thought she would go on a double date with her sister, but small outings were becoming quite common lately. She smiled when Patrick opened the car door for her and Kat. How he had ever convinced her to let him drive her car was a complete mystery, but again it was becoming quite common lately.

"So, Bianca, is Joey meeting us there?" asked Patrick as he backed the car out of the driveway.

"Not sure yet; he hasn't texted me back. Am I that predictable?"

"Yep" Kat and Patrick said in unison.

"Aww, how cute; it's like you two are morphing into to same person" she quipped back.

"Truce?" her sister offered.

"Truce" she obliged, falling into a comfortable silence the rest of the short drive.

* * *

The trio was pouring over the ice cream case, trying to decide on flavors when Bianca's phone beeped. She checked the message and smiled when she saw that her boyfriend was on his way. She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and literally jumped when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. It was Chastity and she greeted her with a hug after her initial surprise.

"So what are you doing here?" Chastity asked brightly.

"Just getting some ice cream with my sister" she replied.

"I hope it's fat free" she said with a slightly judging tone.

"Actually, I think I'm getting mint chocolate chip. In a waffle cone" she added for good measure.

"Well, just remember I'm having a beach party next weekend" she said, the condescending tone becoming more evident.

"Yeah, we're going to try to make it" Bianca said with a little bite.

"Oh, like you have something better to do?" Chastity challenged.

"Not yet, but you never know. Anyway, I'll talk to you later. I have to order now" she said, turning away and feeling victorious.

"Nice going, Kat Jr." Patrick whispered as she rejoined him and her sister.

Bianca smiled and blushed slightly. Maybe she could admit that she enjoyed channeling her sister every now and then.


End file.
